Joaquin Murrieta

Joaquin Murrieta (1829-25 July 1853) was a vaquero and gold miner in California during the California Gold Rush who was nicknamed "the Robin Hood of El Dorado" for his campaign of revenge against the Anglos who hanged his brother, gang raped and killed his young wife, and horsewhipped him.

Biography
Joaquin Murrieta was born in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico in 1829, and he was later recorded as being a Chilean. He went to California in 1849 to seek his fortune during the California Gold Rush, and he encountered prejudice and hostility in the mining camps. While mining for gold, he was attacked by jealous miners, and he and his brother were later falsely accused of stealing a mule; Joaquin's brother was hanged, while Joaquin was horsewhipped. Later, the hostile miners gang raped his wife, who died in his arms. He embarked on a short but violent career that brought death to his Anglo tormentors, killing six of those who had brought death to his brother; the gang also attacked miners and settlers. Murrieta and his bandits killed 28 Chinese and 13 Angl0-Americans, and, in 1853, the California state legislature arranged a force of 20 state rangers to track down the outlaws. On 25 July 1853, Murrieta and two of his bandits were killed in a shootout near Arroyo de Cantua near Coalinga, California, and his head was preserved in a jar of alcohol. The Rangers used the preserved head to collect Murrieta's $1,000 bounty, and his preserved head was destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the subsequent fire.